Speaking recently on The Lawyers Weekly Show, Mr Pils – who is the managing solicitor at Agility Legal – discussed the business and administrative implications for legal practice.

When asked if we will soon be using drones to deliver documents to court, parties and clients, he said the Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Airservices Australia and Civil and Aviation Safety Authority are developing a traffic management system, with deliverable expectations within two years.

As such, “while on the face of it, it seems very pie in the sky that we’re going to see drones flying around the sky, the fact that the government is pushing this heavily means that you are going to see it quicker than you’d think,” he said.

“Once the traffic management system is in place, certainly then the skies will be, dare I say, free for any user, and hopefully legal practitioners will adopt that where necessary.”

Certain kinks will of course need to be ironed out, Mr Pils ceded, including safety concerns about midair accidents and the potential dissemination of confidential documentation in public air space.

“I think it’ll be a while before we see those [court trolleys stacked with folders] being carted around by drone,” he remarked.

But – once ironed out – drones will be able to perform administrative functions usually delegated to assistants and paralegals, such as hopping in a taxi to deliver such documentation. Saving such a worker from that task will not only save petty cash, but ideally, allow for a firm to dedicate more time and resources to billing on client matters, Mr Pils agreed.

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“I’d definitely be the first to adopt once we get the right infrastructure in place, no doubt,” he mused.

“And I’d bet other firms would as well, especially as you mentioned, the longer you’re at your desk, the more you can bill, and we’re all cost-conscious obviously, as you must be. Whenever it can increase the efficiencies and effectiveness, I think is a good thing.”

Elsewhere, Mr Pils said that registration and accreditation for commercial drone use are expected in November of this year, and lawyers across the board should be aware of the parameters around which such instruments can be used.

“You can fly a drone commercially that’s under two kilograms without a license. To fly a drone heavier than two kilograms, you need to get a remote pilot’s license. And for recreational use, my understanding is, up to 25 kilograms you can fly recreationally, then after that you need to be part of a model aircraft association,” he explained.

“Australia earlier this year put out some regulations concerning beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights. Typically, you cannot fly your drone beyond your own visual line of sight, but the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has facilitated regulations to allow that, which is happening for example in Canberra as we speak, with Google Wing delivering donuts and golf balls to things in homes. Plus, they’ve just launched in Logan, in Brisbane.”

Such developments, he noted, have ramifications for clients in agribusiness, infrastructure, technology and real estate.

For legal professionals involved in privacy, torts and civil matters, being across drones will be especially pertinent, he said.

“From the torts perspective, or the civil perspective, there’s potential nuisance and trespass. But typically for that, the general flavor of what I’ve experienced from both other lawyers and from counsel is that, to be a nuisance, it really has to be an ongoing problem. One flyby over your backyard, while very annoying possibly, typically may not constitute an actionable tort, unfortunately,” he said.

“[On the topic of privacy], there are some offenses and some causes of action that help prevent that. For example, the Surveillance Devices Act generally prevents people from using optical or surveillance devices or listening devices to record someone without their permission.”

To listen to Jerome’s full conversation with Tom Pils, click below: